The U.S. Tennis Association reported $623.8 million in revenue in 2024, with the vast majority coming from one event: the U.S. Open.
The three-week tournament accounted for $559.6 million of the governing body’s income, or 90% of the total haul, according to its most recent audited financial statements. Event expenses were $282.2 million, implying an operating profit of about $277.4 million.
The strength of the U.S. Open’s business—that’s a profit margin of more than 49%—has given the organization freedom to pursue the largest investment in the tournament’s 145-year history. In May, the USTA announced an $800 million overhaul of the U.S. Open’s New York City venue that includes a renovation of its main stadium and a new player performance venue next door.
The USTA will fund more than 80% of that total via debt. The rest will come via cash reserves. Those jumped to $291.3 million at the end of 2024, according to the financial statements, the second-highest year-end total in the organization’s history.
“We feel very good about our financial rating,” former USTA CEO Lew Sherr told Sportico at the time. “We’ve had an A- Fitch Rating for over a decade. COVID didn’t impact that, nor did our last round of construction. We feel very comfortable that we’ll maintain that.”
Sherr declined to comment on revenue projections once the project was completed, but he said he expected the nonprofit to pay off the debt within 10 years thanks to anticipated profits gained from ticket sales, sponsorships and other revenue streams.
The 2020 U.S. Open was held without fans due to the pandemic, and it cost the USTA roughly $200 million. To help get through that period, the association cut staff by about 25%, liquidated as much as $85 million worth of investments and opened a $150 million revolving credit facility to meet operating cash needs. That program was terminated in February 2023, and cash reserves grew annually, bolstered by the $270 million sale of the ATP’s Cincinnati event.
The organization’s outstanding debt at the end of 2024 was about $530 million, according to the annual document. That includes a series of private placements dated in 2014, 2016 and 2018 that restructured all of the outstanding debt in 2014. Principal payments on that debt are $22.9 million in 2025.
Because of the USTA’s reliance on the U.S. Open, the story of its financial growth is largely about the tournament’s evolution. U.S. Open revenue has more than doubled since 2015 and is up 40% from 2019 ($399.6 million), the final year before the COVID disruption. The operating profit has also jumped. The tournament made $151.5 million in profit in 2015 and $157.3 million profit in 2019—it’s now $277.4 million.
Sponsorship and media revenues have increased—the USTA has exclusive deals with more than 10 broadcasters, including Disney/ESPN in the U.S.—but the biggest driver of new sales over the past decade has been tickets. The organization’s ticket revenue, principally sourced from the U.S. Open, has jumped 75% since 2015 to $208.5 million.
That gap is wider than it appears at first glance. The $208.5 million figure does not include any revenue from the Cincinnati event. It also doesn’t include a relatively new line item of “corporate hospitality and service revenue,” first broken out in the audited financials in 2019, that added $83.3 million last year.
That’s perhaps most notable because the event has drawn criticism in recent years over the number of fans allowed onto the grounds. “The U.S. Open Is Busier Than Ever. Some Fans Are Not Happy About It,” read a New York Times headline from last year. “Tennis Fans Sound the Alarm on Overcrowded US Open,” read a Sports Illustrated story from around the same time.
The USTA’s reliance on one event is similar to that of another major governing body: the NCAA. Every year the NCAA makes the vast majority of its revenue from the annual men’s basketball tournament. That said, the Indianapolis-based organization has worked to diversify its business, which Sportico has chronicled over the past few years. The USTA, on the other hand, is growing more reliant on the U.S. Open. The tournament accounted for 81% of revenue in 2015 and 90% of revenue in 2024.
Like many major governing bodies, annual investment volatility can have a major impact on the USTA’s annual finances. The 2024 calendar year was good for markets, and good for the USTA—the fair market value of its investments jumped from $272 million to $291 million over the 12 months.
With assistance from Eric Jackson.